Here's my recent acquisition - bit of a resto project this one! 1990 Marin Pine Mountain in Zolatone 2000 grey/orange fluroscent. Obviously it hasn't been well loved and cared for but the price reflected that. The grief involved in actually getting the bloody thing delivered was impressive though - it took 3 weeks to arrive and when it didarrive it came with a Royal Mail fee of £14.69 to pay - somehow it had got through the system with no postage paid on it......

Since I've been commuting backwards and forwards to work I've come to realise that I need a big frame (I'm 6'2") - the 18" Palisades Trail that I currently ride is too small - cue long seat post and riser stem so that I can actually feel comfortable - so I've been on the lookout for a 19" Marin frame for a while to replace it. In browsing retrobike over recent months the early 90's Zolatone Marins have really caught my eye so when this "project" came up on eBay I took a punt on it. The paint is in pretty poor condition, it's presumably been stood outside for a while and the forks/stem/handlebars are pretty badly chipped. But it's not dented or bashed around so it seems to be a good basis for a resto.......

Cool, get it stripped!! Are you going for same colour scheme & are you using the current bike as a donor for all the bits????

I've stripped everything back with the exception of removing the bottom bracket, cleaned up the frame as best I can, cleaned up the cranks and the brakes and reassembled it all for the time being. It seems Zolatone cleans up quite well using wire wool! (carefully) It's certainly tough stuff.....

I'll probably swap the components over from the Palisades to get it on the road with a view to upgrading - it's all lower spec Alivio stuff though, but it will do for now.

Colours will be as original but I might opt for a darker grey like the '91 models and stick with white decals. I stopped off at B&Q and Halfords today to see what paints are available in an attempt to replicate the zolatone....seems Plastikote do a range of aerosol textured paints so I've bought a can to try out (it's called "stone" and is a grey/black fleck texture). Also got some Halfords bumper paint - apparantly it's quite durable/flexible. I'm thinking of laying the texture paint down first then finishing with a colour coat of bumper grey over the top.....

Cool, dont get the Halfrauds flo orange though, I used their flo yellow/green on my marin & it took forever to cover & give an even colour

Nice one - thanks for the heads up on that - I was after some fluro orange made by Plastikote but B&Q didn't have any. Halfords were also out of stock of their fluro paints (apart from Yellow) but I would've bought the Orange if they'd had it.

Cool, dont get the Halfrauds flo orange though, I used their flo yellow/green on my marin & it took forever to cover & give an even colour

Nice one - thanks for the heads up on that - I was after some fluro orange made by Plastikote but B&Q didn't have any. Halfords were also out of stock of their fluro paints (apart from Yellow) but I would've bought the Orange if they'd had it.

Does it just not coat particularly well then?

lesser brands take a million coats and you still don't get flouro effect.

This is indeed one of the threads that has made want to get hold of a zolatone Marin - top job! It was also this thread that had me running off to B&Q to see if I could get hold of the fluro paint.......

Love these zolatone marin's, good find. Watching with interest. Are you not tempted to pay someone to do the paint or are u comfortable doing it yourself?

I'm gonna have a bash at it myself - I've resprayed stuff in the past and have been fairly successful, although the zolotone may prove hard to replicate.

I've cleaned up the frame a bit and removed some of the knackered stickers (after photographing them for the record) and borrowed the wheels off the MTrax. It's looking a lot better......I'm sorely tempted (for the time being) to respray the forks, touch in all the chips in the grey, chuck some new graphics on and get riding it.

Stripping! Nitromors works a treat. - Thought I'd have a go at renovating the orangy bits first.....Acid Etch primer, white undercoat and fluro Orange paint all on order! Seems these orange bits are also prone to some bad fade - 20 years of UV exposure and the Marin decal is still evident on the stem even after I've removed it......

Who is online

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum